World War 3 has arrived with the triumphant return of Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise, and the final instalment of the epic three-part campaign concludes the hunt for number one bad guy Vladimir Makarov.
The campaign takes place in various familiar locations around the world — London, Berlin, Paris and New York are all seen in a devastated war-torn state, giving players a much more chaotic environment in which to fulfil their objectives. The single-player mode has also been scripted by an Oscar-winning writer and features cameo voiceovers from a number of Hollywood stars including William Fichtner (Agent Mahone from Prison Break) and Timothy Olyphant of Hitman fame. With Makarov still at large, players continue to scour the underbelly of the international terrorism network whilst simultaneously defending major nations of the world from the onslaught of the Russian Army. The action involved in Modern Warfare 3 is simply unparalleled, and serves up some more of the series’ famous jaw-on-floor moments.
But if the single-player is good, then Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer mode is excellent. As with previous Call of Duty games, the frantic combat and persistent leveling system never fail to get you hooked. All of the 16 new maps set in the aforementioned locales are fun to play, and a load of new challenges, perks, killstreaks and upgrades mean that whether you play for five minutes or five hours you always feel like you’re achieving something. It isn’t simply just more of the same, as new features freshen up gameplay variety and the balance of games, meaning that one game is never the same as the last.
Considering all of the above, it stands to reason that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has succeeded in being the biggest entertainment launch in history, grossing $400 million within its first 24 hours. Essential gaming and a stellar final instalment to an impressive series.
Rating: 90%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), published by Activision, is available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC.
8 Comments
You have got to be kidding me?!?! The biggest entertainment release in history?!?! Call of Duty has to be one of the most unrealistic and repetitive first person shooters I have ever played. Its just become another one of Activisions yearly releases meaning a rushed product with no major difference between the games. Battlefield on the other hand has gone from strength to strength with each game that it has released…it’s recent venture in Battlefield 3 saw it take some risks, which in my opinion have really paid off. The graphics are incredible with its frostbite 2 engine in comparison to CODs somewhat lazy development of graphics. COD is by no means the release of the year, it is just a game with a biggest fan base maybe if he franchise took a few years to make the next release the game would be a lot better than the repetitiveness I am seeing now.
Aside from how good or bad the game might be (I haven’t played it), I think Sam’s pretty much right in saying it’s (one of) the biggest entertainment releases ever; there was SO MUCH hype around the game, it was advertised in an incredibly huge way, it sold an absolutely insane amount… he didn’t say it was the best game ever (although he did give it 90%…).
The article doesn’t shed any bad light on the game whatsoever, yet it has major flaws. I believe the franchise would be so much better if they left it a few years before they released a game and maybe moved away from the modern warfare theme, 3 games is becoming excessive and I would really like to see something else from the game now. There is no doubt about it that COD is one of the most popular first person shooters but it is becoming boring…regardless of how much media hype it got (mainly due to the huge amount of money that is pumped in to the franchise). COD is mearly turning in to another FIFA, a release every year, with only gradual improvement. I need something more from this game.
I think on some level they consciously avoided an overhaul of gameplay solely for the reason that MW3 is the third in a trilogy of games that have all had an extended three-part story. I think it may have been a tad too revolutionary of them to introduce a new engine that could potentially be a detriment to the sort of gameplay that has around 30m people (yes, that many) hooked on it thus far. Whilst I agree that future instalments need to be brought up to date with the technology available, for what it is, this game is still entertaining. And with regards to the title of this article, MW3 is the highest grossing multimedia release in history. It hit the $1bn gross a day or two before Avatar did (16 days I think). Granted the difference between the price of COD and the price of a 3D cinema ticket is substantial, but still it is an impressive feat to achieve with what you’re saying is ‘repetitive gameplay’. Unfortunately the way things are in the gaming industry at the moment means that the most money is found in keeping everything very much the same with some tweaking and re-branding. I’d wager there are as many 14 year-olds playing MW3 than there are anyone else.
The hype always comes with Call of Duty games. And it’s getting boring seeing 90% or 5 stars plastered on this game, as I don’t think anybody feels brave enough to say it’s declining, or if not that, stagnating. Yet I’ve played this and it’s almost an exact clone of Modern Warfare 2 with yet EVEN MORE customisation which gets even more mind boggling. Sure it’s good but if you keep ripping off the same design and game play all the way from Call of Duty 4, then you have a recipe for success, even if it is unimaginative and all too similar. I picked this up in 5 mins, and already knew exactly what I was doing and how it would work.
Activision need to start doing something different, as already even among those dedicated to the series, there is discontent growing.
Finally someone who agrees with me! Activision need to change their stance on this game and fast!!
I had MW and MW2, and I absolutely loved those games. If it’s a winning formula, I can’t see what would be wrong with MW3. Yes, it’s the same thing over and over, but they have always said the third would be the last MW game, so at least they are going to be chaning a bit and not milking this mini-series for everything they can. It’s an FPS, it’s not like you can completely overhaul it lol.
Battlefield managed it.